In a 2017 interview, former Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) executives recalled how building the first iPhone felt like "Fight Club"--total secrecy, intense pressure and a once-in-a-lifetime mission.
What Happened: More than a decade after the iPhone's launch, key members of Apple's original team--including Scott Forstall, Tony Fadell, and Greg Christie--opened up about the secretive, high-stakes process of inventing one of the world's most iconic devices in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
The project was code-named Project Purple and secrecy was paramount. "We put a poster up on the wall," said Forstall, referring to the poster of Brad Pitt and Edward Norton’s movie Fight Club. The first rule of Project Purple was you don't talk about Project Purple.
The team operated in complete isolation, even from other Apple employees. Hardware and software teams were often siloed and most of the company had no idea what was being built.
See Also: Pierre Ferragu Takes Apple To Task For Dismissing The AI Revolution: ';Has Its Head In The Sand'
"Not one person knew what iPhone was gonna look like right before that keynote. People thought they knew that Apple was doing the phone, but nobody knew what they were going to see that day," Christie recalled.
It wasn't just secret--it was grueling. "168 hours a week for two weeks," Forstall said, describing the round-the-clock sprint that ultimately nailed the iPhone's core interface.
Fadell also described the early prototype process as "a rollercoaster ride," with the first attempts at an iPod-like phone quickly abandoned.
The iPhone's breakthrough moment came when the then CEO Steve Jobs asked whether the company's multitouch technology--originally meant for a tablet--could be shrunk down for a phone.
The team mocked up a prototype the size of a ping-pong table. "It was like a Big Mac," Fadell said.
One of the hardest challenges? The keyboard. Forstall froze all other UI work until the software keyboard was fixed. The team built dozens of versions, he said. One engineer's predictive typing system ended up forming the foundation of the keyboard we still use today.
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Why It's Important: Apple first introduced the iPhone on Jan. 9, 2007, during the Macworld event in San Francisco, presenting it as a device that merged a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod and an internet communicator.
The company revealed plans to launch the iPhone in the U.S. in June 2007, followed by a rollout in Europe later that year and in Asia in 2008.
Priced at $499 and $599 in the U.S., the iPhone officially hit the market on June 29, 2007, marking a pivotal moment in the company’s product history.
Last month, Apple posted fiscal second-quarter revenue of $95.36 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $94.53 billion. Revenue from iPhone sales came in at $46.84 billion, up from $45.96 billion in the same quarter last year.
However, the company is currently facing doubts about its ability to stay ahead in the AI race, especially when compared to more agile startups and rivals like Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META).
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate a persistent decline in Apple’s performance across short, medium and long-term timeframes. Additional performance insights can be found here.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
